Mark Ruslander (born August 23, 1932), known professionally as Mark Russell, is an American political satirist and comedian best known for his parody music, which he performs while accompanying himself on piano.

Contents

Mark Russell was born Mark Ruslander (he changed his name for stage purposes) and grew up in Buffalo, New York where he graduated from Canisius High School. After high school, his family moved briefly to Florida, then moved to Washington, D.C., where he enrolled at George Washington University, but stayed for only a month. He then joined the Marines.[1]

Russell is known for his series of PBS specials, aired live at least four times a year between 1975 and 2004. His comedy specials were a mix of political stand-up comedy covering current events and musical parodies, in which Russell accompanied himself on his trademark American flag themed piano. Russell's song parodies use melodies from old standards with new humorous lyrics pertinent to the subject matter. For example, in 1990, following the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, Russell did a parody song on his show to the tune of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." ("Pardon me, boys / Are you the cats who shot Ceauşescu / You made my day / The way you blew him away.") Russell himself admits that most of his jokes and songs are very topical and have "a shelf life shorter than cottage cheese."[citation needed]

Russell has often been asked the question, "Do you have any writers?" His standard response is "Oh, yes. I have 535 writers. 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives!" When asked if his views on current events are too caustic, Russell replies, "I follow the old newsman's adage. As they say, 'I don't make the news. I just report it.' And in my case, I don't even make the jokes. I just report them as they masquerade as news."[citation needed]

For several years, on the Sunday before Labor Day, Russell has made an annual appearance on the NBC news program Meet the Press, which was hosted from 1991–2008 by Tim Russert, also a Canisius High graduate.

Russell was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons (season three's "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"), in which a character modeled on him sings songs including "The Deficit Rag" and "The Trading Gap Shuffle."